Ugh. I guess Kos has adopted the everything is fair in love and war attitude:
In a fortuitious coincidence, Jerome and I have just finished interviewing a long-time Texas political writer here in Austin who says that Rove is absolutely having an affair with Karen. Rove is married and has a teenaged son. According to this writer, Rove’s wife is a hardcore liberal. “I don’t know how he and his wife get along,” he said.
Well, quite obviously, they do not.
The initial post refers to this Radar Online piece. I am so sick of the busybodies everywhere.
You can almost hear the defense for peddling this sort of thing- ‘But it is Karl Rove, and he would use it against his opposition!”
Missing entirely, of course, the fact that what makes Rove such a jerk is that he would (and has) peddle this sort of stuff for political advantage.
Sojourner
I really didn’t need to know this. Good thing I wasn’t eating my dinner.
Who in their right mind would have an affair with that guy? Not only is he off-the-charts ethically challenged but he’s icky looking.
Stormy70
Austin? Moscow on the Guadaloupe river? Whatever.
jg
Its amazing that there is always a reason for wingnuts to be dismissive? What a massive disinformation campaign this conservative revolution is.
SomeCallMeTim
Democrats don’t worry because not enough people think Rove is a jerk; they worry because he keeps winning elections. John, if you want to create incentives for politics not to be won by jerks, vote against the jerks. Rove behaves like an ass, Rove wins, others start copying. That isn’t politics, that’s the iron law of life.
albedo
One more reason I’ve basically stopped going to DKos. I don’t care if Rove’s done smear jobs like this to Democrats a million times – there needs to be a line in the sand, and personal shit like this should be off-limits.
DougJ
The left will stop at nothing it its quest to destroy those they disagree with, whether it is Karl Rove, Ken Starr, or Ken Lay. Shameless is the word for it.
Steve
It’s interesting that there was an awful lot of negative reaction from Kos’ readers about bringing this up.
Some Democrats don’t seem to get that Republicans do not instantly rise up and overthrow anyone who has an affair, is gay, etc. Maybe that sort of thing works during a campaign, but really, no one should expect applause for bringing this kind of thing up.
And if Rove really is a threat to national security, or a traitor who should be shot at dawn, why would you want to try and create a stupid sex scandal, as opposed to nailing him for the stuff that actually matters?
Bruce from Missouri
So, John, You suggest that Democrats should continue to unilaterally disarm in the dirty politics?
It doesn’t seem to be working so far. I think that every family values republican who’s either a perv or cheater should be exposed (and god knows there’s a lot of them, witness the OH-2 race), and certainly every gay republican should be outed (and god knows there’s a lot of closet cases in the GOP)
You republicans wrote the new rules of political victory. And the new rules are: Anything goes, there is no level to which you as a party will not stoop.
If you don’t like it coming back, you should have said something back in the Lee Atwater days. Anything Republicans get now on the dirty politics front they have coming to them.
Bruce
John Cole
Congrats, Bruce. I actually said to myself when I wrote this, “How long before a Democrat uses the phrase ‘unilaterally disarm?'”
I guess in the first three comments, it would appear. I was wrong- it took eight.
ppGaz
I detest Rove, but I am not interested in his personal life.
SomeCallMeTim
Well, John, we’re a lot more restrained than Republicans. If you model bad behavior on Republicans, of course your predictions as regard Democrats are going to be high.
Otto Man
Count me as another liberal who doesn’t care about Rove’s sex life and, frankly, one who’ll need a second bourbon to wash the thought of Rove’s sex life out of his head tonight. There are plenty of legitimate reasons to bring down Rove, and this isn’t one of them. I care if he outed a CIA agent. I couldn’t care less if he cheated on his wife.
That said, when politicians insist on invading someone’s personal life, it’s hard not to smile at the karmic retribution. Like the one Gingrich, Hyde, and Livingston all got as their own affairs came out during the Lewinsky nonsense. Or the anti-gay GOP pols who have turned out to be gay themselves.
Stormy70
My gay brother will never be a Democrat because of this disgusting practice by lunitic gay libs. He gets mad at his party, but shit like that will send him into a blue-streaked rant against Democrats, and he will be pissed for days. It is a disgusting practice to out people because they prefer to live their lives in privacy. Why would any gay Republican want to come out and be excoriated by liberal gays for not towing the liberal political line. My brother and his gay friends have great political discussions because some are left, some right, and some are libertarians. Things get heated but they remain friends.
Stormy70
You mean they are not politically liberal, right? I know gay men who are pro-life, pro-gun, christian, and against gay marriage. Shock! These openly gay guys are (gasp) anti-gay! Who knew? Only can have liberal group-think if you are gay. I call that gay facism.
Sojourner
Pass the bourbon.
Stormy70
Grrr! Must..get…to …scotch…bottle.
Sojourner
Instead he chooses to hang out with a party that despises who he is. I feel very sorry for your brother. My hope is that, within his lifetime, he will be welcome in whatever party he wishes to join.
Sojourner
Stormy, you ignore the fact that the Repubs brought out the vote by putting anti-gay legislation on the ballet. Regardless of their political positions, gays have to face that reality. Which is why my gay neighbor held his nose and voted for Kerry. Although Reagan is his hero, he could not vote for an administration that used anti-gay sentiments as a wedge issue.
DougJ
Stormy, I applaud your gay brother for staying true to his convictions. I’m tired of the liberals pretending that Republicans persecute gays. We want to protect the sanctity of marriage, not harm the many fine gay Americans. I must say, though that I think more of them should try conversion therapy.
Stormy70
You can thank the judges in Mass. who bypassed the Legislature for the backlash. Thanks for setting back gay marriage for decades. The amendments are passing even in blue states. People are not going to go for gay marriage, especially if it’s shoved down their throats. Change comes slowly, and it would have come eventually since younger people, including Republicans really don’t care if gay people get married. I, personally am for gay marriage, but not if it is imposed by the courts. Stupid judges.
Stormy70
No, they don’t. Even our most hick relatives and their friends do not care that my brother is gay. But if you need to hang on to that stereotype like a security blanket, then go for it. My Republican girlfriends and I have gone to drag shows and like to dance at the gay bars. You won’t get hit on, and your husband will not be worried. I let them know that according to the liberal handbook, they have to despise all their gay friends. Get real.
Bruce from Missouri
John Cole Says:
Congrats, Bruce. I actually said to myself when I wrote this, “How long before a Democrat uses the phrase ‘unilaterally disarm?’”
John, just because you predicted it does not make it any less true. It’s easy for you to say, since you as a conservative has repeatedly benefitted and continues to benefit from Rove and Atwaterism.
Try voting against a few Rove-ist republicans and I will take it a little more seriously….
Bruce
Sojourner
Oh my god. Are you serious? I find it amazing that you believe this shit. I never heard African Americans complain that court rulings in their favor set them back. That they prefer to wait until the American public decides to accept them. And I sure as shit don’t hear my gay friends spouting this nonsense. They are happy that the courts are finally recognize they are real people and deserve equal protection under the law.
Then explain to me why so many states had Republican-sponsored anti-gay legislation that just happened to show up on the same ballot as the presidential election. Are you really that naive? Certainly my gay friends got the message loud and clear.
Otto Man
No, I mean the ones who are openly hostile and critical of gays and then it turns out they’re gay themselves. Like Spokane’s recently disgraced Mayor Jim West:
“Spokane Mayor Jim West, who championed an anti-gay agenda during his tenure as one of the most powerful Republicans in the Legislature, yesterday admitted to using the trappings of his current office to entice what he thought was a young adult man but denied allegations that he molested two young boys more than 20 years ago. …
“In more than 20 years in the Legislature, West had initiated legislation to outlaw sexual contact between consenting teenagers; supported a bill that would have barred gays and lesbians from working for schools, day care centers and some state agencies; voted to define marriage as a union between a man and a woman; and, as Senate majority leader, allowed a bill that would ban discrimination against gays and lesbians to die in committee without a hearing.”
Get that? This guy sponsored legislation to bar gays from teaching in schools. That’s what I mean by “anti-gay.”
Gay facism? What’s that? Do they give people gay faces?
SeesThroughIt
So we get this knee-slapper:
Then, two sentences later, this:
And I’m quite positive there’s absolutely no recognition of the eye-searing hypocrisy therein. DougJ, when it comes to hilariously misguided or just downright stupid statements, you truly are in a league of your own. Not even the best fiction writers of the world could concoct a character as consistently ridiculous and numbskulled. Stand up and take a bow–unless, of course, bowing is another entry in DougJ’s Big List o’ Damn Dirty Liberal Tactics to Destroy America (ya know, somewhere behind slow dancing and the teaching of evolution).
Nikki
John,
Do you know why Karl Rove practices the politics of dirt? Because it works. If it didn’t, Bush wouldn’t be in office right this minute. Ok, I’ll grant that might be a stretch, but then we’ll never know if he could’ve won without the smear attacks. After all, smearing his opponents worked so well for him throughout his entire presidential campaign. John Kerry, Max Cleland, John McCain – all vets who served honorably; Karl Rove smeared their war records and you guys pulled the lever for his candidate.
It’s real nice to complain now about how much you hate dirty politics–but then you’ve voted at least twice for the candidate whose campaign manager has raised it to an art form, haven’t you?
See? Dirty politics works.
Kimmitt
The rules are the rules. Your side wrote them, so don’t bitch now when we play by them.
I want Karl Rove’s goddamn parking tickets on national television. Gimme his questionable deductions on his tax return. Whatever it takes; this is a country that impeached a President for the crime of lying about having an affair.
We can revisit the issue when your side stops passing out band-aids with purple hearts on them.
ppGaz
You wouldn’t know the ‘sanctity’ of marriage if it bit you on the ass, Doug.
Sanctity is a church matter. The government has no business even talking about sanctity. Fuck you, and your phony sanctity. Fuck your Republican government for demagoguing this issue on the strength of nothing put pure bigotry.
Stormy70
Bush = Hitler. Seems like that little ditty was around for a couple of years before Kerry came around.
Sojourner
Is this the best you could come up with? Hitler gets dragged out by both sides. Your party is hardly clean on this – just ask Santorum.
Anderson
Cheating on your wife is one thing; doing it to sleep with Karen Hughes is another entirely, and I think—
[whisper from offstage]
Oh, this is *another* Karen. All right then. Forget I said anything. Carry on, K and K!
Scott Chaffin
back in the Lee Atwater days
Or back in the LBJ days. Ho hum.
Back to the story at hand — it sounds like the interns at Molly Ivins’ office didn’t do a very good job of hiding the sauce. Or the telephone. This story’s been run through the wringer so many times, it should be on Snopes.
Richard Bottoms
Sorry, we’re through bringing knives to a gunfight. And that goes for outing closet cases in the Family Values camp as well. We simply refuse to take any more crap from the GOP.
ppGaz
I’m with you. But …. they have so much more to give.
scs
There are affairs and then there are affairs. Clinton did it with every female he could get his hands on, including young interns. Plus he was the president. That was why it was a big deal. As long as Rove is carrying on a “respectable” affair, so to speak, it shouldn’t be anybody’s business.
SamAm
Say, isn’t Rove the guy who outed a covert CIA agent to serve his political purposes?
Say, isn’t Rove the guy who smeared one of his opponents as a child molestor?
Say, isn’t Rove the guy who said John McCain was an insane traitor?
Say, isn’t Rove the guy who said John Kerry is an insane traitor?
Say, isn’t Rove the guy who said John McCain had an out of wedlock child with a black prostitute?
Say, isn’t Rove the guy who smeared Ann Richards as a lesbian?
I’m tired of liberal politics being a suicide pact. Karl Rove and the GOP deserve better than they’ve earned, but it’s long past time to start using their tactics against them. If the voters want to reward behavior like the above, lets have the courage to take them at their word.
Stormy70
The American people will love those campaign tactics from the left. Worked for Kerry, didn’t it? Santorum’s gay aide is still employed, and the left looks like petty, small people who are more concerned about closeted gay Republicans than National Security.
p.lukasiak
Bottom line is that nobody would give a flying fuck about Karl Rove’s personal life if people like our host hadn’t spewed Rove-inspired talking points for years and voted for his candidates and the disgusting politics he represents.
The left has been correct on every major issue this nation has faced in the last decade — but we lose elections because “moderates” support the kind of scumbag politics practiced by Karl Rove. Rove deserves everything he gets, and “moderates” need to hand their heads in shame if they don’t like it, because THEY are the ones who brought these tactics to the table….
Nikki
So it’s okay as long as you cheat on your wife with just ONE woman. Got it.
Family values at work, I guess.
Nikki
Shorter Stormy: It’s only OK if you’re a Republican.
Sojourner
Stormy, you’re confused. The Swift Boat Vets worked for Bush, not Kerry.
dwayne
you know why i hate the GOP? because they stole the 2000 election, that’s why! and they want to burn down black churches.
BinkyBoy
Sorry dwayne, you can’t hold a candle to the sheer brilliance of Dougj, but you can keep trying.
As for Clinton screwing every woman he could get his hands on, I would laugh except that it just shows how twisted Republican’s that believe that are. No proof, just empty accusations. Maybe now that Karl is cheating we can pin every intern and female in the administration to him. Ewww, never mind, that just makes me want to go scrub my fingers until they bleed.
Look, when the party that keeps claiming moral superiority and “father knows best” kind of family BS is caught in the back room with the busboy or worse, a lobbyist (as is this case) then they deserve to be outted. The sheer hypocricy of the Republican party is what turned me away from them. I grew up Republican, believing Cheney was a great man from my home state, but when reality hits, it hits hard. Now if it would only start hitting every damn republican in the face I’d be much happier.
scs
Okay, Clinton didn’t screw every woman he could get his hands on? Need I list the hit parade of the women that he was linked to? Monica and Paula and Jennifer and Kathleen and Dolly and, etc. etc. They were all Republican set ups? Dream on. Anyway, I was being somewhat tongue-in-cheek about the respectable affair. ButI do feel that Clinton went overboard, even though I was and am a Clinton fan.
By the way, I wish I could get ONE reply to my posts without being accused of thinking the way I do because I’m a republican. What difference does it make to the argument whether I am or am not a Republican? Especially since I’m not, it always makes things humourous. Can’t one person just go after the ideas without bringing gang warfare into it? I guess people need an argument crutch.
Sojourner
Showing your ignorance again. Please produce evidence for his having “screwed” any of these women other than Jennifer. I don’t recall any of them, other than Jennifer, making this claim.
And I mean screwing in the sexual sense, not the screwing we get from the Bush administration.
scs
Sorry, let me clarify, attempted screwing or cigar work.